Little Bit of Comfort
by icemint
Summary: All Sirius was doing was look for James. Instead, he finds Lily, curled up beside the window catching her death cold when she isn't a 100 percent healthy in the first place. Who's going to look after her? It's got to be Sirius. -oneshot-


Disclaimer: Don't own a thing.

~ Dedicated to Jess - Happy Birthday, loony! ~

Little Bit of Comfort

Lily Evans thrashed wildly and jerked out in her sleep. Cold beads of sweat glitter her face and she was becoming cold all over. Her arms stretched out in front of her as if to block an oncoming attack and she cried out. 

When she jolted awake, a small scream was still mewling at the back of her throat. She breathed heavily. Hand clutching her head and fingers entangled in her hair, she tried to block out the horrid visions that murdered her dreams and gifted her with many sleepless nights. Each time she shut her eyes, the images came back more powerful and haunting than the last. 

Lily sighed shakily. Her heart was still thumping and her temperature was abnormal. The room made her sick – it wouldn't stop spinning. She kicked away the tangled mess of blankets and crept out of bed. Taking a pillow with her, she made her way out of the hot, sticky room and down to the common room.     

Sirius Black burst through the Head's portrait looking very excited and full of himself. His face was plastered with a grin and his eyes darted from place to place searching for someone. The fire crackled merrily, yet the window in the far corner was wide open, letting in more cold air than welcomed. What an odd setting, Sirius thought. But he didn't care; he was more preoccupied in finding his best friend.

"Prongs!!" he shouted up the stairs, "Prongs! You there? I got something to show you!" Sirius waved a rolled up parchment in his hand. His fingers drummed the banister impatiently. "_PRONGS!_" he bellowed.

"Shut up," mumbled a groggy voice. "He's not here." Sirius turned. 

"Funeral ended today, didn't it?" he asked, looking at the fire. But no one was in it or around it. 

"Tomorrow," mumbled the voice. 

A strong gust of wind and rain came hurtling towards him and blew his hair astray. He walked over to close it and came to realize that the voice had come from a person sitting right beside it. His eyes widened when he realized who it was. 

"Babes, the hell are you doing sitting there?" Sirius strode over with a slight frown on his handsome face. It bothered him, though he didn't know why, that she had been by the window soaking in swept-in rain and bone chilling winds. "I bet you've caught yourself a cold by now."

"Don't bother," Lily murmured, taking a hold of his wrist to stop him from closing the window. Her other hand was rubbing her temples in a slow circular movement. "And I'm not sick. No, don't close it. It's hot." Sirius sighed.

"You could've put out the fire," he pointed out. Lily shrugged, buried her head deep in her pillow and gave a muffled cough. "Let's get you to bed, alright? You don't look too good." He tried to pull her away but she wouldn't budge. 

"Sirius, not now." Lily shrank into a ball on her chair, legs pulled close to her chest and palms over her eyes. Her head bowed and she shook it as if to clear a thought. Sirius looked sympathetic. He took her hands away from her eyes. 

"You can't stop them from coming," he whispered. Lily didn't reply, but merely looked away. "Look, I can't promise a night without visions, but I'll make sure you wake up alright, okay?" Lily looked up into his eyes, slightly confused. Sirius smiled reassuringly at her before pulling her up. 

Lily curled up in bed and coughed violently. She sneezed several times before putting a hand over her nose, trying to subdue the noise. Sirius came out of the bathroom with a cold wet towel in a basin full of cool water. He set it on the night table beside her as she rolled over away from him and tried to stop a fit of oncoming coughs. 

"Geez, Lil. Just let them out, I already heard them." A storm of static coughing followed. "Not sick my arse..." he muttered as he rubbed her back soothingly. He tapped her shoulder and she turned back. He was holding out fresh, dry pajamas for her to change into. She got up slowly and took it from him. 

Sirius made sure his back was turned to her as he walked over to the corner where the counter was. There was hot water, a coffee maker, a little fridge, and a small cabinet. He searched through the small cabinet. He rummaged until he found a tiny packet labeled Magical Herbal Tea. Taking a cup, he poured in the powder and mixed it with boiling water. 

When he turned to look at her, she was sitting up waiting for him. He took the cup and eased it into her cold hands. She drank, and then abruptly withdrew her lips. "Eww..." she complained. "It tastes bad and it burns." 

"It's supposed to numb your throat. Drink it all up, you'll feel better." Lily did it with a grim face. Sirius took the cup from her and pushed her back onto the bed. "I'm gonna stay with you tonight, k?"

"Wha-but..."

"Until Prongs comes back." Sirius took off his cloak and underneath, she could see that all he had on was his pajama bottoms. She turned her head.

"It wouldn't make a difference anyway. He never does anything comforting."

"Maybe it's because you never let him?" Sirius folded his cloak and placed it on a chair. The look on Lily's face told him he was right. "It wouldn't hurt to let him know you _want_ him to flirt with you now." Lily's face burned. 

"He _does flirt. A lot, too. He's such a prat sometimes..." Lily mumbled sleepily, pulling her blankets over her face._

"Not anymore he isn't. He's really trying, y'know?" She jumped. Sirius's voice was right beside her ear. 

"Hey..." she said, voicing her discomfort. He seemed to know what she was thinking and inched back from her. "Dog form," he whispered, "all night." With a little _pop, Sirius had transformed. He knew she knew. So it really didn't matter. Lily rolled over and stared. She had hoped it wasn't true. Then that meant..._

"So really – I mean – James and Remus, Peter too - they're –" Padfoot nuzzled under her chin, shutting her up. "Oh, all right..." Lily slowly slid her eyelid closed. No sooner had she done so, the images appeared, burning themselves into her mind. Her breath must've quickened. She tried to concentrate on Padfoot's tail swishing back and forth, brushing the outline of her legs. _Back and forth...back and forth...If only that was enough._

True to Sirius's word, she did wake up happier than usual. She was sure her nightmares had returned that night, but for some comforting reason, she couldn't remember them for once. The gentle sun was spilling in from the window and warming her form. She stretched and smiled softly. The birds were chirping by her window, greeting her. 

Lily pulled the blankets towards her, eager to get more sleep while her Third Eye was still at rest. God knows she needed it. She tugged. Something was preventing her from acquiring more of the blanket! Oh right...the dog. Turning over to the side where the sun didn't reach, she intended to shove Padfoot over. What she hadn't intended to see was bare back. 

Sirius had transformed back overnight. He was on top of the blankets, back pressed to Lily, hoping to catch some warmth. Lily blinked to clear her eyes when she thought she had imagined scars on his back. But she wasn't imagining. Sirius's back had one long gash mark starting from his shoulder blades down to the small of his back. There was a claw mark on his shoulder and a bite on his side. Lily winced. Must've hurt getting all those, she thought. 

She was gently tracing her fingers over his claw mark, pretending her hand was a claw. She wondered how he got it. It couldn't have been...ACHOO! The sudden movement had caused her to push roughly into the scar. Sirius gasped and he woke. 

"Bloody hell...what do y'think you're doing?" he groaned, rubbing his shoulder. It was a recent wound, no more than a few weeks. The area was still quite sensitive. "Why would you go poking at people's scars?" he grumbled. He jabbed her lightly with his elbow. If his shoulder started paining again, it was definitely going to be her fault. 

Lily's mouth parted in surprise. She heard the tone in his voice and she felt it was a bit unfair. If he hadn't transformed, she would never have seen it. If he wasn't lying all over the blankets, she would never have turned around. His fault. 

"You said dog form. All night," she accused. Sirius groaned again. Would she _please shut up...He was just about to fall back asleep too. He mumbled something incoherent that went softer and softer with every word until he became silent. _

"What?" she asked, poking him. 

"I _said," he drawled tiredly, turning around, "you started crying in the middle of the night and __kicking me. What was I supposed to do? Lick you?" Lily stared at him. His hair was messed up, he was unshaven, and a slight scowl was on his face. He looked cranky. Suddenly, Lily laughed, with an occasional cough. He looked so comical. _

"It's not funny," he growled. "Would you look at _that_?" He pulled his pajama pants down to his hip bone and she saw a puke-green and purply spot there. 

"Oh geez...sorry," Lily said, shaking her head.

"And _this," He pointed to his chest where five red lines ran across, "It's no fun."_

"I said I was sorry..." Sirius glared at her and she pulled the covers up to her chin. He gave an experimental stretch then recoiled just as fast. 

"Ow..." Lily looked curiously alarmed. He looked warily at her and messed up her hair even more on purpose. "Yea, you kicked me there too." Lily winced. Oops... "Man...sleeping with you is like torture."

Sirius sat up and scratched his head. He got off the bed and into her bathroom. Lily stared on after him. So what was it now? He lived here? She grabbed the brush off her night table and started to comb her hair in furious strokes. She sneezed. Her hand was reaching for a Kleenex and then she noticed the water basin from the night before. Still...he had taken care of her. 

Lily hopped off the bed. Outside, she heard the portrait slam, footsteps and the dragging of luggage. She smiled to herself. Walking over to the bathroom, she poked her head in. Sirius was splashing his face with water. She handed him a dry towel and he muttered a thanks.

"'ames ish bahq," Lily said while brushing her teeth.  

"Hmm...oh yea?"

"Yea." She spat out the foam and rinsed her mouth. 

"You think you'll have anymore sleepless nights?" Sirius asked. Lily shrugged and mumbled, "Maybe."

"Then you won't mind me telling him he can stay here, right?" Sirius said cheekily. She dropped her toothbrush in the sink. He had already dashed out. 

"Si-ri-us!" She caught him at her door. He looked at her expectantly. Lily was blushing angrily, and then the colour paled off her face. She suddenly looked shy. "I-um, thanks – for staying. A-and! I'm sorry...for kicking."

Sirius grinned at her and attempted to straighten her hair. "It's okay. So...I can tell James?" 

"What? Oh...um, yea. I guess." Lily was turning pink again. Sirius thought it was adorable. He took his cloak off the chair. 

"Don't be too hard on him, okay?" Then he slipped out the door.

James bumped right into Sirius on the stairs. He hadn't been paying the least bit attention as where he was going. He was tired, physically and emotionally worn out. James's glasses were knocked askew and as he fixed it, he gave his best friend a curious look.

"What're you doing here?"

"Uh - nothing. Prongs, you look...horrible." Sirius laughed.

"Yea, thanks a lot." James mustered a grin. Sirius had a way with words like no other. He continued to trudge up the stairs, shoulders sagging, head down. Sirius almost felt sad. 

"Hey, Prongs!" James turned. "Lily says you can stay the night with her." James's jaw fell. 

"What?" 

"I think you both need someone right now. You. And her especially," Sirius said. He tapped his forehead giving James an idea of what he was talking about. He was about to leave but he turned back on a second thought. "Oh, and one more thing. One _important_ thing." Sirius got to the same stair as James. Putting a hand on his shoulder, he said solemnly. "Don't sleep too close."

"_Huh?" James stood there looking confused at Sirius's receding back. _

"Like I said, be careful." Sirius proceeded to lose his sight and his hip banged the end of the banister. He cursed. "_Bloody hell...**ow**_." 

I hope you guys like it. I'm sorry if you spot any typos whatsoever. It's long and I didn't feel like combing through it. I needed to get this up for my friend. Don't tell me about them. Pretend they're not there. Haha.  Yea, I do support Sirius/Lily a bit, don't bite my head off. Please review and tell me what you think. Any comments are welcomed. Thanks for reading! ^^


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